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Speak up on local transportation plans

ASHEBORO — If you care about driving, walking, running or pedaling — in short, getting from one place to another by most any means — you are invited to a pair of workshops next week.

The public workshops, scheduled for Tuesday, will help shape transportation plans for the city and county for many years.

Both meetings will be held in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the Randolph Historic Courthouse at 145 Worth St. in Asheboro.

* The first meeting, from 3-5 p.m., is being held by the Piedmont Triad Rural Planning Organization to review projects and develop new proposals for county consideration in the state’s Transportation Improvement Program for 2016-2025. The RPO provides transportation planning services and technical assistance to Randolph, Montgomery, Rockingham and Caswell counties.

Those who attend the drop-in workshop will be given the opportunity to express their thoughts on comment cards about projects that span all modes of transportation: Highway, bicycle-pedestrian, public transportation, aviation and rail.

“If you have a transportation interest, come at 3 o’clock,” said Trevor Nuttall, Asheboro’s community development director. “It will be about Randolph County in general, countywide transportation needs to submit to DOT for funding consideration. It’s more tied to immediate funding needs.”

At the Asheboro City’s Council’s Oct. 10 meeting, council member Walker Moffitt encouraged participation in the process: “You’ll get an opportunity to pick two or three (projects) and champion them,” he said.

He suggested paying attention to a project’s cost in making selections.

“It’s better to ask for something you can get,” he said, “than work for something that’s impossible.”

* A workshop scheduled from 4-6 p.m. will narrow the focus to Asheboro. Nuttall said the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) for the city will represent “a bigger picture” planning initiative — a “wish list” of projects for 25-30 years down the road. The public also was invited to a workshop on the plan last November.

Local adoption of the CTP is planned for the city council’s Nov. 7 meeting.

Among the project recommendations:

* Widen North Fayetteville Street (U.S. 220 Business) from Old Liberty Road to the northern city limits. The proposal is for a four-lane boulevard with a median and median openings at major intersections and “points of activity.”

* Widen U.S. 64 from Back Creek Road to the proposed U.S. 64 Bypass west of town to a four-lane expressway with a median; widen U.S. 64 from the proposed bypass to U.S. 220/Interstate 73/74 to a four-lane boulevard with a median; widen U.S. 64 from U.S. 220/Interstate 73/74 to the proposed U.S. 64 bypass east of town to a four-lane boulevard with a median; and widen U.S. 64 from the proposed bypass to Iron Mountain Road to a four-lane freeway with a proposed grade separation.